During the controversy over SOPA and PIPA, Chopra aligned himself with Wikipedia and its decision to shut-down as part of the lobbying against that legislation.

Chopra left the White House in early 2012, to run for office in Virginia.[1] On July 12, 2012, Chopra formally announced he was running in 2013 for Lieutenant Governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia.[2] He was expecting to run against Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, the wife of former Congressman Thomas M. Davis. Instead, the Republicans selected a more conservative candidate, E.W. Jackson, and in turn the June 11 Democratic primary seleced centrist Sen. Ralph Northam M.D. to run against Jackson. The vote was 78,337 (54.24%) for Northam and 66,098 (45.76%) for Chopra.[3] Northam drew support from the Tidewater area, but Chopra did not gain the support he expected from Northern Virginia, in part due to his controversial Wikipedia ties.